The
Nautical
Archaeology
Digital Library

Nossa Senhoa da Atalaia do Pinheiro (1647)

Chase Oswald, Zachary Mead, and Filipe Castro

 

Country: South Africa
Place:
Coordinates: Lat. ; Long.   W
Type: Nau
Identified: Yes
Dated: 1552 (Historical accounts)

 

Introduction

The following description of the Atalaia wreck site finds comes from personal communications between Professor C.R. Boxer and Graham Bell-Cross that went originally published in Bell-Cross chapter “Portuguese shipwrecks and identification of their sites”. Mentioned as early as 1640, the full name of this vessel was Nossa Senhora da Atalaia do Pinheiro, referring to the sacred image of the Virgin Mary in a church in the “Pinhal of Santa Maria da Castelo de Torres Vedras”. Although some texts refer to the vessel as a galleon, Bell-cross’s publication assures readers that Nossa Senhora da Atalaia do Pinheiro was a four-deck carrack of approximately 1,000 tons and most likely mounted about 30 guns, as most Indiamen on the Portuguese India Route were typically minimally equipped (Bell-Cross, 1988: 74).

Survey and Discovery

After the discovery of the Atalaia’s consort Santissimo Sacramento in 1977, researchers decided to initiate a survey in 1978 to uncover the location of the contemporary wreck. Bell-Cross notes that available data at the time indicated that Portugal-bound ships from the East carried cargoes of blue-and-white porcelain. By locating deposits of said porcelain it was possible to establish the locations of Portuguese wrecks along the eastern South African coast. Researchers began an extended survey of beaches on the south-east coast of Africa, from the Mozambique border to Algoa Bay at the eastern cape of South Africa. This included interviewing locals for archaeological evidence such as porcelain deposits and surveying already-known porcelain sites. The survey also promoted an intensive focus on inspecting the coast between Cape Padrone and the Kei River, with identification of the Atalaia wreck site as the main objective (Bell-Cross, 1988: 74-75). At the time of the survey’s conception, a single site containing blue-and-white porcelain was known to be at Ivy Bay, Port Edward on the Natal Coast. Additionally, one porcelain site was also known on the Transkei coast at the mouth of the Misakaba river. Researchers were also aware of five sites on the eastern Cape Coast at Cannon Rocks, Mtana River, Bonza Bay, Sunrise-on-Sea, and Double Mouth. It was assumed that most porcelain could be dated to within 20 years of its manufacture and with the aid of artifacts recovered from surveys and from geographic descriptions found within the historical accounts of the wrecks, identification of the sites would be possible (Bell-Cross, 1988: 75).

The survey originally centered on the coast around the 33 1/3° South latitude, which included the known porcelain site by the Mtana River and approximately located between the Keiskamma and Fish Rivers; this was based on the survivor’s account of the area. However, nothing was found and researchers soon focused on the entirety of the coast from Algoa Bay to the Kei River. In 1979 Bell-Cross found a large (12 by 12 cm) sherd of “martevan” located between the mouths of the Cinsta and Cefane Rivers (Bell-Cross, 1988: 75). Martevan or “martaban” as it is more widely named, refers to large ceramic storage jars used in south-east Asia and originating from Martaban (Mottama) in Lower Burma. Martaban was commonly used during the 16th and 17th centuries and primarily exported from Burma to Sri Lanka and India (Borell, 2014: 257; Castro, 2001: 16). Later investigations at this site provided additional pieces of martaban and finds of blue and white porcelain. The inclusion of this site meant there were six known porcelain sites between Algoa Bay and the Kei River (Bell-Cross, 1988: 75).

The key to determining which of these porcelain sites was that of Atalaia was found in Feyo’s description of the coast seen just before the ship wrecked. Specifically, Feyo noted that the ship anchored in seven fathoms (27 m) off a long sandy beach. This description meant that only two known porcelain sites could potentially be that of Atalaia: the Mtana and the Cefane River sites. In January 1980, divers involved with the survey project, Peter Sachs and Sean Mitchely, dived at the Cefane River site. Searching in a grid pattern the duo first came upon a muzzle-loading cannon, followed by a cluster of 10 bronze and eight iron cannons (fig 33). The bronze cannons possessed cascabels shaped in the same fist-with-the-thumb-projecting-from-under-the-index-and-middle-fingers style found on the Bocarro cannons from Santissimo Sacramento. The cannons were arranged in a way that suggested they had been stored in the hull at the time of the wrecking, as was the case with the cannons recovered from Santissimo Sacramento. A later examination of an inscription on one of the cannon’s barrel established that it was a Bocarrro cannon, of which some were known to have been transported aboard Atalaia (Bell-Cross, 1988: 76).

After discovering the cannons, the divers obtained a salvage permit and made arrangements to raise the cannons. For the salvaging operations the team attached buoys to the Bocarro cannons and plotted their positions, then hired the same trawler that was used to lift the cannons of Santissimo Sacramento. The team attached strops around the cannons which were then connected to the five-ton lift winch of the trawler. By the end of the first week, 10 of the Bocarro cannons were raised and sent to the East London Museum. Recovery of the thirteen cannons closer to shore took the team more than eighteen months, even though they weighed significantly less than the Bocarro cannons (Bell-Cross, 1988: 76). Raising the cannons closer to shore was more dangerous. Lifting bags were initially attached to them and they were repositioned in deeper water and later raised by the trawler. In addition to the 10 Bocarro cannons, the team also recovered sheets of lead, sherds of blue-and-white porcelain, glazed and unglazed martaban sherds, lead shot for muskets and pistols, two anchors, a crushed pewter jar, a lead sounding weight, thirteen other cannons, one of which had the same A.G. Feyo founder’s mark as a cannon found on Santissimo Sacramento. One large iron cannon was also lifted. Notably one of the bronze cannons had the date 1638 cast in relief on its upper surface near the touchhole (Bell-Cross, 1988: 77-78). Wood most likely belonging to the hull was recovered from underneath one of the Bocarro cannons and later identified as evergreen oak, confirming that the ship was built in Portugal (Bell-Cross, 1988: 74).

Additionally, two bronze coaks weighing approximately 18 kilograms apiece were also recovered from the site (fig 34). Typically found on 16th century wrecks, coaks are defined in Sir Henry Manwayring’s Seaman’s Dictionary, as “Little square things of brass with a hole in them, put in the middle of some of the greatest wooden sheaves, to keep them from splitting and gulling by the pin of the block whereon they turn” (Manwayring, 1644: 27).  It is thought that coaks were mostly used within the larger halyard sheaves placed of the mastheads, as they are recovered very infrequently from wreck sites (Keith, 1987: 117). In Bell-Cross’s text, it is suggested that the coaks were placed within the sheaves that would have loaded the Bocarro cannons on to Atalaia (Bell-Cross, 1988: 78). The sheaves and blocks in which coaks were placed were typically constructed of lignum vitae, ash, or elm. Eventually, multipart wooden sheaves would be replaced with sheaves made out of solid bronze (Marquardt, 1992: 248; Horsley, 1978: 219-220). As alluded to by Manwayring, coaks supplied structural support to wooden sheaves and protected the sheave from splitting. This was done by inserting the coak along the grain of the wood, while leaving the exposed side of the coak flush with the face of the sheave (Marquardt, 1992: 148). The pins that the sheaves ran on were usually cut from lignum vitae, cog wood, greenheart, or when used in larger metal sheaves, iron (Marquardt, 1992: 248; Marsden, 2009: 267; Rule, 1984: 144).

According to an image provided in Gillian Vernon’s book Even the Cows were Amazed: Shipwreck Survivors in South-East Africa, at least one of the coaks from the Atalaia shipwreck was a rare variant subtype containing a pair of twin trapezoidal projections, commonly referred to as ‘keys’. The keys protrude in a parallel manner from two of the outer sides of the coak and are flush with one of its faces. (Vernon, 2013: 63). This unusual variation of coak has been found on Espíritu Santo, one of the 1554 Spanish shipwrecks from Padre Island, and on Bom Jesus, another Portuguese ship of the Carreira da Índia, lost off the Cape of Good Hope in 1533 (Olds, 1976: 43- 45; Vernon, 2013: 63; Alves, 2011: 26; Werz, 2010: 434). The appearance of this form of coak on Atalaia is interesting as its parallels are nearly a century older.

Ten of the Bocarro cannons measured between 350 and 355 centimeters in length with an average of 349 centimeters, similar to those found on Santissimo Sacramento. The largest cascabel of Atalaia’s Bocarro cannons measured 14 centimeters, and as mentioned previously contained the same clenched fist design as the Bocarro cannons recovered from Santissimo Sacramento. Atalaia’s Bocarro cannons contained the same inscriptions, such as Macao’s coat-of-arms, and a rampant lion and crown, the insignia of the Governor of India, Antonio Telles de Menezes (1639-1640), and the Viceroy João da Silva Tello de Menezes, Conde de Aveiras (1640-1646); albeit the inscriptions on most of the cannons were partial at best as the cannons were heavily eroded (Bell-Cross, 1988: 78).

Campsite

Not long after Atalaia was discovered, the remains of the survivor’s campsite were also located. Less than a kilometer from the wreck site, researchers found a plateaued sand dune approximately 50 meters long and covered in brush. Crawling through the dune the team initially located a sherd of blue and white porcelain measuring 7.5 by 6 centimeters, showing no signs of water damage. An excavation of the site was carried out by Simon Hall of the Albany Museum in 1980 (Bell-Cross, 1988: 77). According to personal communication between Hall and Bell-Cross, the following artifacts were recovered from the site:

Ceramics

Eight sherds of blue and white porcelain from the transitional Ming period were uncovered these pieces were homogeneous in style with both the campsite and wreck collections (Bell-Cross, 1988: 77). This form of porcelain was manufactured during the 17th century (Valenstein, 1989: 195). Eight sherds of Blanc de Chine originating from the same ornamental form were also recovered (Bell-Cross, 1988: 77). Blanc de Chine, also known as Dehua porcelain, is a form of all white porcelain originating from Dehua in the Fujian province of China. Originating during the Song Dynasty, Dehua porcelain became highly coveted by the 16th century (Yap and Hua, 1994: 65). Lastly, three stoneware sherds, from three different receptacles were uncovered, these pieces had brown glaze and are believed to have come from martaban jars (Bell-Cross, 1988: 77).

Firearms

Eleven items of flint were found, nine of these pieces were knapped into level rectangles most likely to be used for the firing of flintlock firearms. Citing personal communication with Peterson Hall, Bell-Cross points out that the flintlock pieces ranged in size and this variation most likely indicates they were to be used with different guns. The smallest pieces were most likely to be used with pistols, the medium pieces to be used with an arquebus (carbine) as mentioned in Feyo’s account, and the largest with muskets (Bell-Cross, 1988: 77).

Ornamental

A series of other artifacts were also recovered, most of which were mainly luxury items including a piece of marble, a “small cog-like ornamental piece of bronze”, a portion of a bronze sheet plated in gold, a tiny semicircular portion of silver, a small fragment of silver, and two pieces of mother of pearl believed to have originated from a woman’s comb. While not considered luxury items 25 fragments of corroded iron nails and two pieces of lead were also recovered (Bell-Cross, 1988: 77).

Biological

Some biological evidence was also found at the campsite, possibly indicating what the survivors ate while on the beach. These items included 498 fragments of bone and shell fragments belonging to the white sand mussel Donax Serra. As pointed out by Bell-Cross, Feyo’s account mentions the survivors consuming mussels on the beach for sustenance; compared to the Early Iron Age Donax mussels found near the mouth of the Cefane River, all of which are intact, this heavy fragmentation of the mussels at the campsite indicate that they were broken for food by people who were foreign to the mussels and unaccustomed to their consumption (Bell-Cross, 1988: 77)

Hull remains

T

Keel

N.

Stern heel (couce)

A .

Stern knee (coral)

A.

Frames

T.

Planking

T.

 

Table 1. Scantling of the timber remains of the Corpo Santo Shipwreck

Timber Sided

[cm]

Molded

[cm]

Keel
Sternpost
Floor timbers
Room-and-space
Planking

 

Caulking

Not reported.

Fasteners

A

Size and scantlings

T

 Wood

No timbers were reported

Reconstruction

Beam: Estimated    m

Keel Length: Estimated   m

Length Overall: Estimated  m

Number of Masts: Unknown

 

References